Walmart Oreo Theft: Employee Slapped With Felony Charge Over Cookies

A longtime Walmart employee has been charged with a felony over the theft of Oreo cookies.

Penny Winters, a 63-year-old Indiana resident, was arrested Monday following an internal investigation by Walmart officials. The company began looking into the theft after finding an empty bag of Oreo cookies near the register in one of its Indiana locations.

The empty wrapper prompted Walmart Asset Protection Manager Kenneth Moreno to research surveillance footage taken at the Indiana store. A police report obtained by The Smoking Gun details what was captured by the security tapes:

“Mr Moreno advised that upon back-tracking the video footage from the location in which the wrapper was located, he was able to observe Ms. Winters select the package of cookies, open it, and proceed to consume multiple cookies during her work shift without paying for said items.”

When approached about the surveillance video, Winters allegedly confessed to the Oreo theft. She then admitted to stealing and consuming food items from the location on a weekly basis throughout her years as a Walmart employee. Winters worked at an Arizona location before her seven month stint in Indiana as a member of the store’s maintenance crew.

According to Raw Story, Winters allegedly explained that the Oreo theft was committed because she could not afford to pay for the cookies and other snack items on the amount she was paid for her Walmart job. She reportedly earned a salary of $11.40 per hour after eight years of employment with the retail giant.

Do you think Walmart was right to file felony charges against Winters for her Oreo theft?